Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Italy -- Medieval Jewish Cemetery in Terni Remembered

An Italian news source reports that a plaque is going to be unveiled this week marking the site of the medieval Jewish cemetery in Terni, a city in central Italy's Umbria region. Not only that, there will be a little seminar about medieval Jewish history in Umbria. (Typically, the web site running the story illustrates it with a picture of the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague!)

Umbria -- Terni province in particular -- is where I have a house and spend a good chunk of my time. There may be a few dozen Jews in Terni province today... when my extended family is there, we probably make up the largest "Jewish community." Passover is coming soon, and I'm already thinking of where to scrape up people to come to the seder....

There was never a huge Jewish population in Umbria, which was part of the Papal States -- maybe 500 people at its peak in the 14th to 16th centuries. But in the middle ages, there were a number of active communities, most of which have left no trace -- in Orvieto, Assisi, Todi... Today, there is a tiny Jewish community in Perugia and a few scattered families, but that's about it. (In Perugia, you can see a trace of the old synagogue and Jewish cemetery.)

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

As the author of National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe, I have roamed thousands of miles around Europe's historic Jewish heartland, bringing Jewish heritage to light for on-site explorers and armchair travelers alike. On this blog I will post photographs, links and personal experiences related to Jewish heritage sites and travel, particularly in the countries of east-central Europe.

Aside from clearly marked quotations, links and pictures, all material on this blog is copyright ⓒ Ruth Ellen Gruber

RUTH ELLEN GRUBER

I'm an American writer, photographer, and public speaker long based in Europe. I've chronicled Jewish cultural developments and other contemporary European Jewish issues for more than 20 years and currently coordinate the web site www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu. My latest books are "National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe," published in 2007, and "Letters from Europe (and Elsewhere)," published in 2008.
I also am working on "Sturm, Twang and Sauerkraut Cowboys: Imaginary Wild Wests in Contemporary Europe," an exploration of the American West in the European imagination for which I won a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship and an NEH summer stipend grant. In 2015 I was the Distinguished Visiting Chair in Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston, SC.